Rail-joint.



' G. A. HUMASON.

RAIL JOINT APPLIQATION FILED AUG. 21, 1911.

Patented June 4, 1912.

.7 UNITED STATES rA'rnNT OFFICE.

a registeringwith the recess a? and shoul- GRANVILLE A. HUMASON, orSHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR, IBY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 1OHUMASON RAIL JOINT COMPANY, OF SHREVEPOR'I, LOUISIANA, A CORPORATION OFLOUISIANA.

RAIL-JOINT.

1911. Serial No. 645,105.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GRANVILLE A. :HUMA- so), a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description V of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to 'whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improve-' ments in rail joints, and theobject of the invention is to stitfen and. strengthen the joints of therails, and yet permit of longitudinal expansion and contraction.Inaddition to these.advantages, the construction of the rail willin alarge measure prevent the hammering or pounding of the car wheels asthey pass from the end of one rail 7 to the adjacent end of the nextrail, and also I in a large measure prevent the 'dentmg in of the ties,or injury to the chairs from excessive vibration. Furthermore, thetendency of the end of one rail to sag down when the wheel passes overit, causing the adjoining rail to strike the moving wheel, is in a largemeasure obviated, thus preventing the'creeping of the track. These andother advantages in the herein described construction will be understoodby reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same parts areindicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 shows a'side elevation ofthe rail with the fish plates applied,showing one form of the device. Figsi 2 and 3 are details showing theabutting ends of the two, rails forming the joint shown in Fig. 1. Fig.4 shows one of the fish plates. Fig. 5 shows another of thc fish plates.Fig. 6 shows a section along the line 66 of Fig. 1, and looking in thedirection of the arrows, and Fig. 7 shows a modified form of rail joint.

In Figs. 1.to 6, A and A represent two abutting rails, whose webs arecut away in an ical form, .as at a, and also pro vided '1 1 the usualholes a for the bolts B passing through the angle'platesC and J."llic-base-of the rail A is preferably cut away t oitm .a tongue (1,,with shoulders ders a", respectively, on the adjacent rail.

tongue at of the rail A.

Moreover, the web of the railA may be cut away, as at a", to registerwith the curved the two rails interlock at the base, and the curvedportion a serves to resist vertical pressure, while the constructionprevents lateral displacement, and therefore strengthens the'rail at thejoint against the accidents due to excess of lateral pressure. The twoangle plates C and C',shown on a smaller scale in Figs. 4 and 5, areprovided the one with an elliptical lug a, projecting through theelliptical slot a (see Figs. 1 and 7) in the web of the adjoining rails,and engaging in the elliptical redess c in the angle plate C. By havingthis tongue 0 made integral with the fish plate C, great strengthandrigidity are secured, and by having the socket c extend only partlythrough the wall of the fish plate C, the vertical strength of said fishplate is less impaired than if the tongue passed clear on through. Thetwo members are held in engagement by the bolts B in the usual way. Theelliptical tongue is p'rovidedwith a slight clearance at each end withregard to the rails, so that they may-expand and contract freely; but atthe same time, the flat top and bottom surfaces of the ellipse maytransmit the down Patented June 4.. 1912.

Thus the ends of v thrust of the rail joint, and cause the end of onerail to support the other, and also cause the two fish plates to addgreat vertical strength to the joint. 'It is preferred to have the fishplates in the form of angle irons, but any ordinary shape-of fish platemaybe adopted, if desired, and moreover any suitable form of chair maybe added, if desired butthis is not ,a part of my invention, and. is notshown herein.

- In Fig. 7, the two rails are shown as abutting vertically in the usualway, without the interlocking feature shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Itwill be evident that the fish plates or angle plates shown in Figs. 4and 5, and hereinbefore described, may be applied as well to a railjoint of this description as to a joint of the description shown in Fig.1.

Having thus described my invention, what T claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent'of the United States is l." The combination with tworails having I each provided with bolt holes, of a pair of fish plates,the one provided with an elliptical tongue integral therewith, and theother I provided with an elliptical recess adapted to receive saidtongue,

the said tongue fitting in said elliptical opening in the webs of saidrails, and being provided with a slight clearance'at either end, withbolts passing through said openings and holding said fish plates againstsaid rail, and holding the end of said elliptical tongue in. saidelliptical recess in said fish plate, substantially as described.

. 2. The combination with two rails having their webs provided each wltha semi-elliptical slot adapted to form an elliptical opening when thetwo rails are abutting, and each provided with bolt holes, of a pair ofiish plates, the oneeprovided with an elliptical tongue integraltherewith, and the other provided with an elliptical recess adapted toreceive said tongue, the said tongue fitting in said elliptical openingin the webs of said" rails, and being provided with a slight clear-,ance at either end, with bolts passing through said openingsand holdingsaid fish plates against said rail, and holding. the end of saidelliptical tongue in said elliptical recess in said fish plate, thebases of said rails being cut away to form an interlocking joint,substantially as described.

3. The combination with two rails having their webs provided each with asemi-elliptical slot adapted to form an elliptical opening when the tworails are abutting, and

each provided with-bolt holes, of a pair of fish plates, the oneprovided with an ellipti cal tongue integral therewith, andthe otherprovided with an elliptical recess adapted to receive said tongue, thesaid tongue fitting in said elliptical opening in the webs of saidrails, and being provided with a slight clearance at either end, withbolts passing A portion a of the first rail, and being prov-id'ed with arecess to receive said tongue at, whereby an interlocking 3o1nt issecured,

which will both assist in securing vertical rigidity and also inpreventing lateral displacement, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix 'niyvsignw tnre, in presence of twowitnesses.

GRANVILLE A. HUMASON.

lVitnesses1- T. E. WVILLIAMs, E. W. Dorian.

